At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
Doug Roberts, Architect, returns from a long vacation to find work nearly completed on his skyscraper. He goes to the party that night concerned he's found that his wiring specifications have not been followed and that the building continues to develop short circuits. When the fire begins, Michael O'Halleran is the chief on duty as a series of daring rescues punctuate the terror of a building too tall to have a fire successfully fought from the ground.Written by
John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
This film has acquired a rather more chilling undertone, even decades later, in the 2020s, due to the fact that skyscrapers around the world are still getting much taller, and perhaps surprisingly, still catch fire, whether by construction cost-cutting, and/or unfortunate accidents, and/or arson. In the 1970s, the film was seen as more of an escapist fantasy entertainment spectacle, and its since become a bit too realistic for some viewers tastes. See more »
Goofs
When the firefighters initially respond out of the fire station, Engine 4, which is an open-cab American Lafrance had the new style(post-1970) San Francisco Fire Dept. gold leaf logo reading "San Francisco Engine Co." encircling the city seal on both front doors. When they arrive at the fire, the engine has pre-1970 logos consisting of the city seal on both doors by itself and "SFFD Engine Co." on the side of Engine 4 where the back jump seats are at. See more »
Quotes
Chief O'Hallorhan:
All right. It's your building, but it's our fire. Now, let's get these people the hell out of here.
James Duncan:
Now, I don't think you're listening, Chief. There's no way for a fire on 81 to reach up here, not in this building.
Chief O'Hallorhan:
OK. I'll do it.
[He prepares to announce an evacuation]
James Duncan:
[stops him]
Hold it, hold it. The Mayor's out there. Do you want me to pull rank on you?
Chief O'Hallorhan:
When there's a fire, I outrank everybody here. Now, one thing we don't want is a panic. Now, I could tell them, but you ought to do it. Just ...
See more »
Crazy Credits
The 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Pictures logos don't appear in the beginning. See more »
Alternate Versions
Syndicated Network TV versions shorten Dan Bigelow catching fire and cut the scene of Lorrie's death, ending it where she screams "DAN!" and runs away. It then cuts to the firemen fighting the reception area blaze See more »
Your typical dumb disaster flick, produced by the king of the genre, Irwin Allen, made notable by the presence of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman who finally agreed to share the screen as equals, something they almost did in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." The ever competitive McQueen made his film debut with a bit part in "Somebody Up There Likes Me" in which Newman starred, and one of his ambitions was to finally get top billing over his number one rival. Even with the so-called "diagonal billing" employed in the film and its advertising (with Newman's name elevated slightly above McQueen's), those of us who read from left to right can see that McQueen got his wish. He also got the best role. He's the firefighter, a tight jawed man of action, while Newman is saddled with the less sympathetic role of the architect. But the real star is the burning building. It burns, and impressively at that, but there's something very claustrophobic about this situation which results in less action than Allen's previous smash, "The Posiedon Adventure."
But the acting is better. In addition to McQueen and Newman, the cast includes Richard Chamberlain (particularly good), William Holden, Faye Dunaway, and Fred Astaire. That's an improvement over Carol Lynley and Eric Shea, both of whom Gene Hackman had the misfortune of emoting with two years earlier. Whatever one thinks of this particular genre, "The Towering Inferno" is probably the best of the bunch.
41 of 60 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Your typical dumb disaster flick, produced by the king of the genre, Irwin Allen, made notable by the presence of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman who finally agreed to share the screen as equals, something they almost did in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." The ever competitive McQueen made his film debut with a bit part in "Somebody Up There Likes Me" in which Newman starred, and one of his ambitions was to finally get top billing over his number one rival. Even with the so-called "diagonal billing" employed in the film and its advertising (with Newman's name elevated slightly above McQueen's), those of us who read from left to right can see that McQueen got his wish. He also got the best role. He's the firefighter, a tight jawed man of action, while Newman is saddled with the less sympathetic role of the architect. But the real star is the burning building. It burns, and impressively at that, but there's something very claustrophobic about this situation which results in less action than Allen's previous smash, "The Posiedon Adventure."
But the acting is better. In addition to McQueen and Newman, the cast includes Richard Chamberlain (particularly good), William Holden, Faye Dunaway, and Fred Astaire. That's an improvement over Carol Lynley and Eric Shea, both of whom Gene Hackman had the misfortune of emoting with two years earlier. Whatever one thinks of this particular genre, "The Towering Inferno" is probably the best of the bunch.